The owners of Lindal-based home fragrance manufacturer Wax Lyrical says it is making progress in meeting full-year financial targets following a recent profit warning.

Portmeirion Group said results for the first half of the year, ending June 30, were in line with expectations set out in its May trading update, when it issued a profit warning after seeing sales drop by 10 per cent compared to the same period in 2018.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the company said revenue was down 5.4 per cent to £34.9 million, compared to £36.9m in the first half of 2018.

Headline profit before tax stood at £500,000 compared to £2.1m last year.

Revenue in the UK, the group’s largest market, rose by 9.2 per cent while the US market performed in line with expectations.

“Considerable progress” had been made on tackling “short term issues” with export markets, the company said.

An anticipated slow-down in markets and lower than expected sales in South Korea led to Portmeirion Group – which bought Wax Lyrical for £18m from its then parent company Lighthouse Holdings in 2016 – issuing the profit warning just under two months ago.

But new product development in South Korea had led to a stronger order book for the second half of the year, which Portmerion’s non-executive chairman, Dick Steele, said had make the full-year outlook more positive.

“Due to the seasonality of our business, the first half is always a small part of the overall Group performance and is not a reliable indicator of the full year,” he said.

“We were disappointed with our May trading update due to short term challenges in our export markets in the first four months of the year.

“However, we are encouraged by progress made in these markets since May and pleased that other critical parts of the business are performing well and in line with our expectations.

“Early signs for the remainder of the year are positive and we expect to meet full year market expectations.

“We have a great track record of consistent top and bottom line growth and we believe our long term strategy is the correct one to continue this trend in the future."

In July the company completed the acquisition of United States-based premium homewares business Nambé LLC, which Mr Steele said would help boost the stateside market.

The company also announced that the interim dividend would remain at 8p per share.

Wax Lyrical develops, manufactures and delivers luxury scented candles and reed diffusers from its Lindal factory and exports its products to more than 40 countries around the world.